Belle's Rescued Prince
by KatLeePT
Summary: She always wanted to rescue her Prince. RumBelle. SPOILERS!


She holds him in the quiet of the night. The only sounds are the droning on of the rain outside, the rising of thunder, wind slapping at their house, and their heartbeats. She can't actually hear his heart beating, but she likes to think she can as she feels it throbbing steadily underneath her palm. It wasn't the storm woke her but his movements in their bed. He was sleeping peacefully, but since she's awakened and touched him has calmed.

She's smiling as she gazes down at him with big, blue eyes full of love and adoration. The feel of his heartbeat underneath her hand is comforting to her as well as her touch seems to be to him. She isn't afraid. She can remember being afraid of storms when she was just a girl, but there's little she fears any more. Her transition into womanhood made her crave adventure, and the thunder and lightning went from being a fearsome thing to reminding her that there was adventure to be had just outside her father's castle's walls.

Oh, how she craved that adventure! During those years that she sought it, she doubted she would ever want to settle down. She wanted to be a warrior, a heroine. She didn't want a Prince to rescue her. She wanted to rescue the Prince. Belle's smile shifts slightly with her reminiscing.

The gold band of her wedding ring winks up at her in the dark. It's funny. During her time with her beloved Rumpelstiltskin in the old kingdoms, she would have said she had given up on seeking adventure, preferring instead to find love, but she's since come to realize that that's not true at all. Loving her Rumpel is the greatest adventure she could have had, and what's more is she did rescue the Prince.

She grins. He probably wouldn't like her to think that way, but she knows she did. She chose to go with him that night that he changed her life forever, and she chose to stay with him, no matter what he did. She saw the man within the monster and knew even back then, shortly after going to live with him, that there was the soul of the true Rumpelstiltskin laying beneath the facade of the Dark One and aching to be saved.

She leans down and kisses his forehead as he continues to sleep. She is so thankful for him and for all they've shared. She's thankful she is living the adventure of a lifetime with her husband and that she wasn't too late to save him. She never tells him, but she does still sometimes consider the life he had before he became the Dark One. It took him a long time to tell her about it, but when he did, her heart ached for him even more.

She cocks her head to one side and continues to watch him sleep. Just a little while ago, when he first woke her, he was writhing with nightmares. At that time, she didn't wonder about the contents of his dreams and only set about quietly reassuring and calming him, but now she does wonder. Just what of his past was he dreaming about?

Was he afraid he was hurting her, as he'd so often feared in the past, especially when underneath Zelena's control? Did he fear some one had found the dagger where he hid it before giving her the fake one so that, if some one attempted to steal from him again, it wouldn't be the real dagger they took? Did he dream he had lost her again? Had he relived being underneath Zelena's control or losing Bae? Or had his dreams perhaps gone further into his past, back to the woman who had broken his heart, back to the tragedies he had suffered in just trying to be a good father?

His hands twitch as he slumbers; she leans down and sweeps her long, brown hair which he loves to stroke over his flesh until his fingers become embedded in her hair and he once more calms. She watches as his lips slowly curve upward into a smile before allowing herself to think again of his past. She's certainly wanted to give Milah a good talking to ever since she learned of his first wife's betrayal, and that desire has not lessened even though it is she who now holds Rumpel's heart and she knows Milah has long been dead. What kind of woman, she wonders for the hundredth time, leaves a man who is only trying to be a good father and their young child? What kind of cold-hearted, wanton strumpet must she have been to have stolen away on Hook's Pirate ship and left her husband and child? Hook has since claimed that they wanted to return for Bae, but if they had, they would have done so.

It isn't the child being left without his mother that burns Belle, however. It's the woman herself leaving her husband, although she would have never gotten the chance to love Rumpel if she hadn't and he also would never have become the man he is now if not for her deceit. But how could she have left him? Rumpelstiltskin is the most wonderful man Belle has ever known, and when he allows himself, he is full of love. She has no doubt that back then, before he became the Dark One, he was full of love for his wife and child.

She knows the story. She knows how he escaped war, and she knows why. He didn't do it because he was a coward. He did it, chopped his own leg, to be certain his child would have his father. He was tricked into doing it, true, but he made one of the most ultimate sacrifices of which she has ever heard just so he could be a good dad. She doesn't know of any other father, except for perhaps Charming, who would have done the same to be able to be with their child.

And yet, Milah lied to him. She lied to him, convinced him that he was a coward, and then ran away with Pirates, leaving both Rumpel and Bae behind. Belle knows, too, that Milah wasn't the first to mistreat her husband. It's no wonder he picked up the dagger and gave his soul so he would no longer be a coward, but she knows a truth of which she has yet to convince him. Rumpelstiltskin was never a coward.

She sweeps her hair across his body once more, then lowers closer to him, and kisses his cheek. He was never a coward. He is, instead, the bravest, boldest, wisest, and most loving man she has ever known, and in a way, she is glad Milah left him because that gave her the chance to find him and both their souls to be made whole again.

Something jolts through Rumpel. She sees it in the strained shifting of his body and hears it in the slight whimper that escapes his mouth. Quickly, she looks over him, and then she notices the position of his lame leg. Without hesitation, she moves to it, wraps her hands around his calf, and begins to rub. He'd never let her touch him like this if he was awake, but slowly, and grateful for the opportunity, Belle works her way down his body, massaging every inch of the leg whose usage he gave to be able to be with his son.

She's rubbing his foot when she realizes he has awakened and is watching her. "Rumpel!" She startles only slightly, but it is with a guilty countenance that she slowly lifts her gaze from underneath her long eyelashes to face him.

He smiles, and there is so much warmth and caring in his expression that Belle can feel her very insides warming. "Don't stop on my account, dearie." He reaches down, lifts the hand that she has been using to prop herself up on on their bed to his lips, and kisses it. "Although I would never ask you to be at my feet, my love."

She grins and turns her hand over in his gentle grasp so that he kisses her palm. "I rather like it here." She rubs his foot again and then runs her fingers through his toes. She laughs in surprise as he jumps. "I didn't know you were ticklish!"

His smile having grown into a bold grin, he teases as he pulls her up to him, "Come here, you little minx."

She goes willingly and finds herself straddling him. Her arms go around his neck; her fingers dive into his thick, brown hair. "I thought you liked what I was doing."

"I always enjoy your touch, sweetheart, anywhere." He kisses her. "Everywhere." He kisses her again, and when he starts to pull away this time, she catches his mouth with her own, her teeth first pulling at his top lip before she kisses him fully. Her tongue slides into his mouth, sparking a dance with his. Her body rocks slightly on top of him. He's ready for her, but then he always is, just as she is always ready for him.

As Rumpelstiltskin moves the sheet around them, his mouth never leaving hers again the whole while, Belle realizes that the storm has moved on. She feels his heart against her breasts, and this time she's quite certain she can hear it, too. Their hearts are pounding out a rhythm as old as time itself. She is, however, convinced no love has ever been as glorious and wonderful as theirs just as she knows, too, she's no longer angry with Milah. She's thankful to her instead for without her extracting herself from the life of the man she loves, Belle might never have found her Prince. She certainly wouldn't have gotten to rescue him, nor he to rescue her, but every step of their lives, every hardship and twist and turn, has brought them to where they are now, together with their souls made whole by one another and loving each other forever.

The End


End file.
